Year: 2012 Page 20 of 47

Many stunning photos have been presented on this blog, and the recent announcement of the 2012 Anole Photo Contest is sure to draw many more.  Many of these images also grace the covers of scientific journals and are frequently used for creating vivid figures in papers.  Certainly, the ability to easily capture and reproduce high-quality photos has provided great benefits for science, but sometimes it’s also worth remembering that scientific illustration played an important role in communicating findings to other scientists and the general public.

The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators describes science illustrators as “artists in the service of science” for whom “accuracy and communication are essential,” and, while we tend to think of photography as the most realistic way to represent an image, GNSI points out that “the skilled scientific illustrator can clarify multiple focal depths and overlapping layers, emphasize important details, and reconstruct broken specimens on paper — results unattainable through photography.”

A post on this blog last year pointed to the New York Public Library’s digitization of their scientific illustration archives, and it looks like other museums are following suit.  For instance, The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has digitized about 6000 images from their entomology illustration archives and a huge number of images from other collections as well. There are also independent websites popping up that are collecting digital images of classic scientific illustrations on all subjects (e.g. http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com/archive and http://vintageprintable.swivelchairmedia.com/animal/animal-reptile-amphibian/).

These are definitely worth browsing if you’re interested in the history of science or just enjoy viewing finely created artistic pieces of the animals we study.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXPcYUnKRM

At least according to some. AA emailed the production team asking for the back story, but we still await a response.

And while we’re on the topic of anole flicks, here’s a video of an emaciated but alert and active female green anole slowing changing color.

Spoiler Alert: I’m about to discuss the central plot of Spiderman. I assume most readers are by now familiar with the movie’s central conceit, namely that a noble scientist valiantly strives to create a race of super-lizards with extraordinary powers to benefit all of humanity, but tragically is stymied by the movie’s villian, a pajama-clad arachnophile with psychological baggage that produces an unreasonable antipathy to all things reptilian.

I won’t go into the particulars, but suffice to say that until its tragic denouement, the work is a herpetological marvel, as well as an inspiration to what may be accomplished by the miracles of genomics. Particularly impressive was the scene in which the oversized saurian regenerates its tail–quite graphically and accurately–in real time. Admittedly, the CGI lizards (of which I can’t find any photos online) were not quite up to par, but not a bad effort. Moreover, the best character in the movie is the chief scientist, Curt Connors, who immediately upon entrance introduces himself as the world’s foremost authority on herpetology and, as if to prove it, has an office replete with herpetological items (ok, two that I noticed: a stuffed turtle and a sea turtle skull).

Dr. Curt Connors, the world’s foremost herpetologist.

But, you may be thinking, a movie featuring lizards is great in all, but what’s the connection to anoles? Admittedly, there was no lizard or superhero in the movie who could be identified as anoline (incidentally, Time magazine has a nice discussion of what actual lizards may have been the basis for these creatures). However, and you may consider this a stretch, there was one link to the anole world: Connors, the scientist, was a dead ringer* for Jonathan Roughgarden (vintage 20 years ago), a resemblance enhanced by Collins’ obvious theoretical brilliance. Now, of course, it was disappointing when Connors transformed himself into a Komodo-sized saurian that bore no resemblance to Anolis gingivinus or any other Lesser Antillean anole, or even any anole at all, but perhaps we can save that for the sequel (Spiderman II: The Anole Strikes Back), when Connor triumphantly re-emerges to vanquish the spider-people and save humanity.

*by “dead ringer” I mean “bore a slight resemblance, at least in my mind’s eye”

Scary? Try adding a dewlap and toepads!